I became a music industry godfather by writing confidantes.

Chapter 102 Audition

October 19th, Jinshi headquarters, 10 PM.

Xue Yuanchun, whose Weibo name is "It's a Navel Orange", followed the staff through the corridor to the outside of the audition room.

"Ms. Xue, please sign here. Also, according to the confidentiality agreement, all electronic devices need to be temporarily stored and will be returned after the audition."

Today is the listening session for Tao Cheng's second album, "Swallowtail Butterfly".

This is considered standard practice in the music industry; a small-scale listening session is usually held before the official release of a highly anticipated album.

Firstly, it was to gather initial feedback from the core circle and artificially create positive word-of-mouth within a small scope. Secondly, it was to collaborate with major media outlets, music magazines, and music critics in advance to generate buzz for subsequent promotion.

"Okay." Xue Yuanchun agreed verbally, but his hands didn't stop. He took a picture of the audition room and sent it to the group.

[Ahhh—I'm so nervous and excited! I'm at the audition room door now, checking in my electronic devices. Wish me luck, ladies! *Swallowtail Butterfly*, here I come!]

Xue Yuanchun couldn't see how the other fans in the group were feeling jealous. After signing the form and depositing her phone, she entered the audition room.

Before coming, Xue Yuanchun did his homework online and learned that this was an immersive listening hall built by Jinshi Music with a lot of money. It is said that the acoustic decoration alone is enough to buy an apartment in the Third Ring Road of Beijing.

She looked around and found that the audition room was semi-circular in shape, with a screen occupying an entire wall at the front.

In the center of the room is a semi-circular sofa, surrounded by a tiered set of single sofas that extend upwards. Behind the tiered area is a bar counter.

Of course, compared to these hardware facilities, what truly impressed her was the person sitting in the listening room.

According to prior research, the attendees at the audition included senior executives from Kingstone, as well as executives from Tencent and NetEase Cloud Music, editors-in-chief of music magazines, music critics, and music bloggers active on various social media platforms.

If we really want to calculate it strictly, it is actually fans like Xue Yuanchun who won the lottery by luck who are the odd ones out in this room full of capital, channels, resources and professional music theory.

Under the guidance of the staff, Xue Yuanchun took his seat in the tiered area.

Her gaze involuntarily fell on the VIP area in the very center, where Yang Du was sitting.

Among a group of middle-aged and elderly men dressed in suits and ties, with large bellies, Yang Du, wearing only a casual shirt, stood out like a crane among chickens.

Tao Cheng was talking to a middle-aged woman who looked rather mean; she was probably some important person she didn't know.

As he was observing, Xue Yuanchun noticed that there was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat weak on the sofa to his left, separated by an empty seat.

The more she looked, the more familiar he seemed. Finally, she remembered something and asked tentatively in a low voice, "Excuse me... are you Teacher Qianli'er?"

The middle-aged man turned his head: "Yes, I am Qianli'er, and you are...."

"I am the fan representative selected by Jinshi."

"oh."

Xue Yuanchun discovered that Qianlier didn't seem to be very good at offline communication. He was nothing like the person on Weibo who would often post long Weibo posts at the slightest disagreement. After saying a simple sentence, he stopped talking and instead took out a notebook and a pen and placed them on the tray in front of the sofa, as if he was going to write a music review on the spot.

Just then, a tall, thin figure walked over and stopped in the empty seat next to Xue Yuanchun.

With just one glance, Xue Yuanchun's body involuntarily tensed up, and an alarm bells went off in his mind.

The man was probably in his fifties. Even in an audition where he didn't need to be too serious, he buttoned his shirt all the way up. His lips were slightly downturned, and he had two deep nasolabial folds.

The overwhelming seriousness and rigidity were just like the strict headmaster in high school who was given all sorts of nicknames but was still incredibly strict.

I'm already the owner of a bubble tea shop, I'm not afraid of you anymore!

Thinking this to himself, Xue Yuanchun's body still betrayed him by leaning to the right.

"Teacher Wei, I didn't expect you to come too." Xue Yuanchun heard the taciturn Qianli'er actually greeting the guy next to him who looked like the head of the teaching department. He must be a senior figure in the industry.

Xue Yuanchun couldn't help but prick up his ears.

"Yes, Jinshi sent me an invitation to see what kind of effect this album, which was completed in three months, can present. It's best if it's not just a gimmick."

That sounds like someone trying to find fault.

Although Xue Yuanchun didn't understand profound music theory, her instinct as a fan didn't stop her from protecting her own.

She silently prayed in her heart: Orange Yangdu, you guys better step up your game later and unleash your ultimate moves, don't let this old guy look down on you.

Soon, it was 7:30.

Tao Cheng, the absolute star of the night, slowly walked to the microphone.

"Orange looks so beautiful today!"

She wore a colorful plaid dress tonight, without elaborate makeup, but she exuded confidence and composure.

From her first album to "Flammable and Explosive," then to the first single "Bubble," and now tonight's second album "Swallowtail Butterfly," Tao Cheng has completely shed her naivety as a newcomer and truly possesses a captivating aura.

"Good evening. Thank you very much to all the seniors, media friends, and my fans for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend the listening session for my second solo album, 'Swallowtail Butterfly'."

Xue Yuanchun heard Tao Cheng continue as if chatting with an old friend: "About three months ago, I had dinner with my junior classmate, Yang Du, who is also the producer of this album, my manager Sister Hong, and Lin Xu."

"During the meal, I suddenly put down my chopsticks and asked him, 'Junior, would you be interested in being my second album producer?'"

Tao Cheng couldn't help but laugh as she spoke.

She pointed to Yang Du in the audience: "My junior was drinking soup at the time. I remember it was bamboo fungus and fish ball soup. He almost spat it out."

Yang Du shrugged.

A burst of cheerful laughter immediately filled the listening room.

"The audition hasn't even started yet, and there's already this kind of leak. I never thought Yang Du would become the producer of Orange's second album in this way." Xue Yuanchun thought happily, "And even though they've already made a name for themselves in the music industry, they still address each other as juniors and seniors. That's great—oh wait, I can't ship that."

If you were to talk about the production concept or music theory of her second album, Hsueh Yuan-Chun definitely wouldn't understand, but as a true fan, she would force herself to listen attentively.

But when it comes to telling funny stories, she's not sleepy at all.

After the laughter subsided, Tao Cheng continued, "But I'm serious."

"Actually, from the very first single we collaborated on, 'Flammable and Explosive,' I had a very strong intuition that he understood me."

"It's not just about knowing how high I can sing, where my comfort zone is, and where the challenge zone is, but also about knowing clearly what I want to sing and what I can sing well."

"And so, 'Bubble' came to be!"

Xue Yuanchun suppressed the urge to scream, her eyes slightly burning, because just yesterday, the cumulative digital downloads of "Bubble" finally broke the 10 million mark, becoming Tao Cheng's first single to reach 10 million downloads, far ahead of the new generation!

So today, Xue Yuanchun is in a particularly relaxed mood. With the hit single "Bubble" as a foundation, even if it really is an album with nine tracks as some people say online, it would still be excellent enough!

On the screen at the very front, three artistic characters slowly appeared: Swallowtail Butterfly.

"Swallowtail Butterfly has ten songs in total. As the singer, I can't directly describe in words how perfect the arrangement or structure is, but it's definitely worth sitting on the sofa, closing your eyes, and enjoying the whole process."

"Well then, without further ado, everyone, 'Swallowtail Butterfly'!"

As Tao Cheng stepped down from the stage, the lights on the ceiling of the audition room gradually dimmed, turning into a soft ambient light.

Immediately afterwards, a piano melody came from the speakers.